Achievement Unlocked!!!

By the time we left the herd of wildebeest it was lunchtime and we needed to find a good place to stop. The criteria were simple: shade, good views, and open country that would keep anything from sneaking up on us. We headed out into the plains in search of such a place and happened across another breeding pair of lions. Some careful driving brought us to within 5 meters of this couple. It may seem scary, but by this time we had figured out that the hot day, exhaustion, and preoccupation made the close approach pretty safe with an experienced driver and guide.

We didn't dwell quite as long with this pair, although we did stay long enough to see a complete cycle. The female was soon up, circling, and presenting to her suitor. The male let out quite a bellow, but the aftermath was much less contentious this time, though we did get a look from the male that seemed to be telling us to get lost or else.

In the end, though, even he lay back down, too tired to care and trying to get some rest before the next round.

Moving on, we started to encounter elephants and large, mixed, and dispersed herd of wildebeest, antelope, and zebra. A family group seemed disturbed by our presence, even at a distance of 100 meters, and the littlest decided to show his displeasure with upraised trunk. It is easy to be brave when you are little and mom is nearby...

A short while later we happened on a good lunch spot that met all the requirements. Malaki soon had the table in place, and we enjoyed our bushbox lunch in comfort while scanning the horizon with binoculars for interesting sights. Dessert was, of course, fruit, including the ubiquitous bananas. In the meantime, David and Malaki tried to give us a little privacy while eating their lunches and keeping watch for "visitors".

After about 45 minutes, we wandered on, still poking into wooded areas looking for rhino. We came around the corner of one small acacia grove and discovered an entire pride of lions. Only a few can be seen in this picture; several are out of frame and some are hidden by bushes. I would guess that there were about a dozen in total. Malaki edged up quite close to the group (5 meters or so) - after all of our encounters with lions today this didn't seem terribly risky. They weren't preoccupied or tired like the breeders, but it was still hot and we could make a quick getaway if necessary. Lions are blindingly quick over short distances, but have even less endurance than cheetahs.

Wait, did Malaki just turn the engine off?!

I think it was at this point that Catherine and I learned what Zinjanthropus felt when it stared into the eyes of a predator. Intellectually I knew the car would start again. Intellectually I knew that Malaki and David knew what they were doing. Intellectually I knew that lions don't really see us as being separate from the vehicles. Intellectually I knew they were well fed, warm, and lazy. The hindbrain, that ancient, reptilian part of the anatomy that governs our instincts and reflexes, knows nothing about intellect, though. I believe an exact quote of the first message my hindbrain sent to my forebrain would be "don't-move-don't-breathe-be-invisible", followed closely by "holy-crap-start-the-friggin-car-dammit!". That moment was the only time during the trip that I felt at all exposed, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It was exhilarating.

After the initial shock wore off, we set about watching this happy, lazy group for a good 20 minutes. It was all females, cubs, and a couple of young males; the dominant male was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the last breeding pair we encountered was from this pride.

This cub seemed to be saying "come back when I'm bigger", though...













After deciding we had disturbed the pride enough for one day, we continued our trek west. Not long thereafter, Malaki got a radio call. Since the radio traffic between drivers is generally in Swahili, we had no idea what was going on. In short order, though, we were bouncing along at high speed (OK, 15 mph rather than 10) on a beeline for camp. We asked David what was going on but he was a little reluctant to tell us because he didn't want us to get our hopes too high. Apparently the rhino had been spotted just three miles from camp down near the river. They had moved more than 20 miles overnight, and we had probably driven within a few hundred yards of them on the way east this morning. Now, though, they were under observation by other groups so we had an excellent chance of finding them if we hurried.

Our 45 minute mad dash across the plains was rewarded as we soon zeroed in on two rhino, one large, one smaller, placidly munching leaves in a patch of brush. At this point the first reaction was to declare victory - we checked everything off of our list today and saw the Big Five (Achievement Unlocked!). Watching these rhino, though, brings everything into perspective. These are ancient creatures, or at least they seem so. Skin like armor, massive horns, prehensile lips - they are more fitted to the age of dinosaurs than the age of men. Ponderous in motion and poor of eyesight, they can move quickly when agitated and make for formidible foes.

They have an enemy, though: man. The population of rhino worldwide is critically endangered due to poaching. The horns are highly prized for their use in traditional asian medicine, and conservation efforts are struggling to maintain viable populations. The rhino is everything that is beautiful about Africa, and everything that is ugly. Only time will tell if it will survive to grace future generations.

Things were pretty subdued for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We headed back to camp, which was quite close by, seeing two large groups of banded mongoose duke it out in a territorial dispute along the way (by duke it out, I mean chitter at and chase each other). It is pretty ironic that we travelled so far today in search of what turned out to be in our backyard. No regrets, though. The things we saw today were amazing. Frankly, I think it turned out perfectly. The two of the Big Five that are hardest two see were the bookends for out time in the bush - the leopards in Tarangire on the first day and the rhino in the Serengeti on the last. Tomorrow we would head for Zanzibar, which promised entirely new and different experiences. Today, though, was without a doubt the jewel of the entire trip.